I am interested in purchasing a new site this year. I want it to have an absolute minimum income of at least $20 USD per month.

With that in mind, suppose I find a site I like. What sort of proof would you consider adequate to confirm this income?

I operate two other sites. One generates a good income, the other is a pet project of mine that generates nothing. For my income earner, I could prove income by offering a paypal statement, or a google statement..but can't these be altered to appear as if they are generating a little more than they actually are?

So how do you prove income in a site you were interested in purchasing? what would help make you sleep at night?

Or get the seller to create a video of them accessing their website accounts. Harder to fake than screenshots, but it's still possible.

agbates
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2011-01-29T02:09:48Z —
#3

Thanks for the reply. Do you find people are honest about site revenue here or do some try to take the fast road and try and dupe the unsuspecting? it seems those sellers with a good reputation would be really foolish to try something like that here and ruin a reputation of trust that must take years of establishing. Particularly on an online marketplace.

sqls
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2011-03-16T20:20:39Z —
#4

Here is some tips from digitalpoint for buying a website:

Do: Check other websites such as Sitepoint or WebMasterWorld or some of the other trading forums. Chances are you'll find the exact same listing. Read it, if it didn't sell on another forum, there's more than likely a reason why.

Do: Check this person's history. How much reputation do they have? What are their last 20 posts like?

Do: Check the site statistics. Go on to Alexa, what's the ranking? Is the website indexed in Google? Does it have cached pages? Is it indexed in MSN? Are there backlinks? What's the PR?

Do: Check if any of the content is copyrighted, or stolen. Choose some random phrases from the articles or content, then Google it with "quotations". Does it show up on other websites?

Do: Ask questions.How old is the site?Was it originally yours?Did you buy this site?Why are you selling it if so?How much traffic do you get?How much traffic do you get from the US?What scripts is it running?Do I need a license for these scripts?Do I need to install GD Library, MySQL, Image Magick, etc?Is it your script?Will I have full copyright to the scripts and content if I buy it?Is this content unique?How much does your hosting cost?How much resources does it use?What's the income?What's the income for the past 4 months?What ad networks do you use?Do you have a Google Adsene account? Where you banned?Will you help me set it up?etc, etc

The buyer should be able to ask as many questions, stupid or otherwise. If the seller can't answer these honestly, or without hesitation. Take note.

Good luck!

system
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2011-04-03T20:31:33Z —
#5

Show them a screen shot of Google analytic for the domain if you have it. Also show Ad sense revenue for the domain. Its all in reports. I was checking another forum market place for domain sales. People want big bucks and advertise high traffic. None showed their analytic and most had 2-3 links. All wanted more than 2k They will never sell them. Show proof. Money talks, BS walks.

scottytruman
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2011-05-25T01:57:39Z —
#6

If ever they lied with regards their real income and you purchased it from flippa, you can always ask for the refund of your money. I guarantee it.

fun8848
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2011-06-05T11:18:30Z —
#7

Observation site PR and ALEXA ranking.

Mittineague
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2014-10-05T22:07:35Z —
#8

This topic is now archived. It is frozen and cannot be changed in any way.